Naturopathic Source

There is so many mixed messages out in the media about what is healthy and what is not healthy. No wonder so many people are confused about what food is and is not healthy.

Why, why, why?

One of the most common questions I get from patients is, "If it's not good for you, why are they allowed to say it's good for you?"

Marketing. Sales. Profits.

Health? No, no....that's not the point. Sales and profits are the point.

I just caught a few minutes of a morning show...

...and on this show they were talking about saving money at the grocery store. I didn't catch the whole thing, but what I did catch fired me up enough to open up my blog and write this post.

TV Tip: Instead of buying frozen/refrigerated pasta, buy old-fashioned pasta in cans. The pasta is already cooked and in sauce, so you don't even have to boil water! And it`s non-fat whereas the other pasta has lots of fat.

Me: Are you kidding me?? First of all, the frozen/refrigerated pasta had cheese (and probably cream and/or vegetable oil in it). So of course there is going to be lots of fat - that`s the jist of high-fat dairy.  

So they suggested the old-fashioned canned pasta in sauce. Canned foods, as a general rule, are not good for you. There are some foods that are okay to use canned sometimes (sardines, legumes) but that`s about it. Having meals that come out of a can is not a good idea.

And while I`m on it, let me say that although I`m all for old-fashioned, just because something is the way ''it always was when I was a kid'', it doesn`t mean it's good for you.

About 50 or so years ago, the pesticide truck used to drive down residential streets and spray lawns with chemicals. People would take lawn chairs and sit on their front lawns while they were being sprayed as a form of entertainment. I guess there wasn't much going on in many suburban neighbourhoods and this was exciting. But now we know better and some communities are banning pesticides on lawns altogether.

But I digress...

A healthy alternative would be to buy dried and/or fresh plain pasta, a healthy jar of sauce and add a bunch of vegetables and sauteed/stir-fried meat/chicken/fish.

TV tip:  Since most orange juice is just reconstituted orange juice concentrate anyways, you might as well save some money and just buy the concentrate and add the water yourself. There is a huge savings of about $5 with this one.

Me: Ah, the illusion of choice. Would you like this one or that one? Maybe I would like neither.

If you are going to buy orange juice (or any juice) make sure it's not from concentrate at all.

But something important to know is this: juice isn`t good for you. You read that right. Juice isn't good for you.

Juice is processed by your body the exact same way as if it were sugar-water. By the time you buy orange juice in the store, the vitamin C is long gone and all you have is a liquid with a ton of sugar in it.

Eat the fruit. Fruit is full of fiber and it slows down how quickly the sugar enters your bloodstream. Eat the fruit instead of drinking the juice.

And no, kids don't need juice. Of course they like it but this is for the same reason they like cake and cookies: they are full of sugar. Teach them to eat fruit and you'll be planting some very good seeds in your child about healthy food choices.

Save on juice by not buying it at all! (Now there's a tip!)

TC